NFL 2018: Top 3 matchups from week 8

Trades! Trades! Trades! We are right at the middle of the NFL season and it is Trades time in NFL. With the trade deadline looming in, the trades are coming in frenzy. The teams in contention are trying to fill the needs and teams in rebuild mode are trying to pile in draft picks.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have traded for the running back Carlos Hyde to help their running game with Leonard Fournette still out with hamstring injury, which looks even more serious now because of the trade.

The New York Giants, who constantly insisted that they are not in the rebuilding mode throughout the offseason, finally agreed that they need to rebuild by trading away a former first-round pick in Eli Apple to the cornerback-needy New Orleans Saints. They also traded DT Damon Harrison to Lions for a fifth-round pick. Could Eli Manning be next? Probably not, but could use a young QB who can help the team

The team that made waves in trading circles is none other than the Oakland Raiders. Unlike the Giants, the Raiders started their rebuild process just before the start of the season by trading away the stud defensive end Khalil Mack to the Bears for a couple of first round picks. But, they made another blockbuster trade this past week by dealing away the struggling wide receiver, former first-rounder Amari Cooper to the WR-needy Dallas Cowboys.

In a stunning trade, the Cowboys gave up the first rounder, which seems like a steep price for a struggling wideout. Time will tell if the Cowboys made a third mistake in trading for a wide receiver.

The Raiders now have three first-round picks for the 2019 draft with a possibility of all three being in the Top 15 and they are probably not done yet. They could still be in the trade market to move some of the pieces like Safety Karl Joseph and also maybe WR Jordy Nelson, who probably would not be in the future plans.

There are still a few more days for the trade deadline and there are a lot of players still in the trade block including the veteran players like Demaryius Thomas, LeSean McCoy, DeVante Parker and also some disgruntled players like Patrick Peterson and LeVeon Bell could still be in the mix before the trade deadline but looks highly unlikely.

That being said, let's take a look at the Top 3 matchups for week 8 which has a couple of high flying playoff calibre matches this week.

#3 Baltimore Ravens (4-3) at Carolina Panthers (4-2)

Newton is coming off a solid game versus the Eagles

This is a matchup between two teams that will probably be in the playoffs in the wildcard spots despite having a shot at the division title. The Ravens are currently on good shape but the Pittsburgh Steelers looks like they are over their September slump and are back as the favourites to win the division and the Bengals also aren't that far behind.

The Panthers, on the other hand, are obviously a game behind the New Orleans Saints who might be the only team that could beat the Rams, besides the team the Rams are facing this week.

This game probably has fewer playoff implications than others but both the teams could use a win this week to show the league that they aren't too far behind the big-name teams for the Superbowl LIII race.

The Panthers will face a ferocious defence which ranks in top 5 in major defence categories. Cam Newton and the rest of the Panther have their work cut out for them. Carolina will look to roll out Christian McCaffrey more as a pass-catcher and employ a lot of screens to put the Ravens' defence honest. Panthers will need Greg Olsen to step up. Olsen had a red-zone TD last week and will look for more to come his way.

Meanwhile, the Ravens offence will also face a good Panthers defence who restricted the Eagles offence to just 7 points in the second half and zero in the final quarter helping the offence to complete the comeback. They will need a similar effort against this sneaky Ravens offence which is using Lamar Jackson in various trick play situations.

Fantasy Outlook

Must Start:

Nothing much here. These two teams have played wonderful defence all season and could very well be a defensive low scoring game.

Under the Radar:

Nick Boyle, TE Ravens: Carolina give up second most to the TE position. Nick Boyle could be a very good streaming option this week.

Caution:

All the skill position players except maybe for Mccaffery who could be more of an impact on the passing game than on the ground.

Prediction

This will be a low scoring slugfest where the best defence wins and currently Ravens are the best. They were a Justin Tucker kick away from tying things up against the Saints last week. It is stunning to see that Tucker hasn't missed a single extra point kick in his seven-year career. It will probably come back to Tucker's feet to decide the winner. He will bounce back just like Mason Crosby did for the Packers.

Ravens 17, Panthers 14

#2 Green Bay Packers (3-2-1) at LA Rams (7-0)

Rodgers and the Packers are looking to end the Rams' perfect start

The Rams have yet to lose a game this year, in fact, they are the only undefeated team remaining in the league. Things could change this week as they face a very dangerous and very well rested Packers team. Rested is the key word here.

The Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is pretty banged up since week 1 and yet led his team to a 3-2-1 record with a couple of comeback wins in the stretch. They will face a very dangerous Rams team which could very well be the Superbowl representative from the NFC.

Packers are surprisingly a massive 9.5 point underdog, but I think the game will be much closer than that and I also think that Packers will give their everything against the Rams.

One of the main reasons for that massive spread for the Rams is Todd Gurley's insane production in the past few weeks. Gurley scored three total touchdowns twice in the last three games. He already has 14 total touchdowns in the year and look out for couple more coming his way this week.

The Packers defence will need to stop the run and flush quarterback Jared Goff out of the pocket. If they could limit Gurley, which is easier said than done, Packers will have a shot at this to win.

But, the Packers have their own offensive weapon in Aaron Rodgers, who is coming off a bye week fully rested. He will also get his weapons back in Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison. But, Packers have Davante Adams, who is slowly raking up yards and touchdowns and is the most underrated receiver in 2018.

The Rams defence will have their work cut out for them. The Rams secondary appears to be inconsistent and look for Rodgers exploiting them early in the game to open up the lanes for the running backs later in the game.

Fantasy Outlook:

Must Start:

Aaron Rodgers, QB Packers, Todd Gurley, RB Rams, Davante Adams, WR Packers: Duh!!!!

Under the Radar:

Geronimo Allison, WR Packers: With Marcus Peters looking for Adams, Allison, who is making a comeback from injury, could see some targets coming his way.

Robert Woods, WR Rams: Woods had a decent year but fell under the shadows of Brandin Cooks and Cooper Kupp. With Kupp most likely out, Woods role will increase.

Caution:

Both the defences are a big fade in this matchup, which has shootout written all over it.

Prediction

Someone should beat the Rams sometime. They are not the perfect team to go 16-0 and this could be the week they would have that 1 in the L column. Rodgers and the Packers outscore the Rams by 29 points in his two road starts against them. It will not be that big of a margin but it will come down to a Rodgers game-winning drive which will put the Packers tied to the top of the division, more on that in the next slide.

Packers 33, Rams 27

#1 New Orleans Saints (5-1) at Minnesota Vikings (4-2-1) (SNF)

The rematch of the Minneapolis Miracle. There is no better matchup to have at primetime this week than the two teams which had an epic NFC Divisional Matchup this past January which ended on a walk-off Case Keenum touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs. But, Keenum is no longer with the Vikings, it is Kirk Cousins time and his big contract is showing its worth so far this season.

But, things have changed massively for both the teams since then. Saints despite losing the first game of the season to the Fitzmagic's Bucs came back roaring with five straight wins. Lock in for a Saints vs Rams NFC Championship game.

Drew Brees is determined to win his second Superbowl ring. He is breaking records and creating new ones this season. His season reminds me of Peyton Manning's historic 2013 season with the Denver Broncos. Brees will need that kind of performance again to possibly tie it up with the Rams for the Conference top seed.

Brees will face a very good Vikings defence who will get back the defensive end Everson Griffen back. Vikings D will need to look out for not one but two running backs Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. Ingram, despite being shut down in the week 7 win against the Ravens, had a good start against Washington where he scored two touchdowns. He will remain the goal line back for the Saints.

Vikings will somehow need to find a way to contain the dynamic WR Michael Thomas who isn't getting much love among the trade pundits despite having a great season.

The Saints, on the other hand, need to improve their defence against this dynamic Vikings offence. Adam Thielen is having a great season. He is arguably the number 1 WR in the league right now. Kirk Cousins has been good but he will need to go toe-to-toe with future Hall of Famer Drew Brees.

Fantasy Outlook

Must Start:

Adam Thielen, WR, Vikings: Saints give up most points to WR and Thielen leads the league in passing yards, do the math.

Under the Radar:

Benjamin Watson, TE Saints: Vikings give up 7th most points for the TEs and look out for Watson to get more targets with Xavier Rhodes shadowing Thomas.

Caution:

No defences this game as well.

Latavius Murray, RB Vikings: With Cook out, Murray has been great the past two weeks, but they face a Saints defence which gives up fourth fewest to RBs.

Prediction

Saints still have that Minneapolis Miracle wound fresh in their minds. They will look for the revenge and The Vikings will want to use that to their advantage. But, Saints will prevail this time with their own version of Minneapolis Miracle for a go-ahead touchdown to end the Sunday Night Matchup in OT.

Saints 36, Vikings 30